So what's really wrong with our diet?

"Too many calories" is what the experts say. Twenty years ago the average American consumed about 1,850 calories each day. Today we eat 140 calories more which enough to add an extra 15 pounds to each person every year.

As a result, More than 66% of all Americans are considered overweight. We eat too many calorie dense foods that are not nutritious. In addition we just eat too much food that is not necessary. The University of California at Berkeley analyzed American diet and found that nearly 1/3 of the calories came from junk food. Three food groups comprise about 25% of all calories consumed by Americans. There are sweets and desserts, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages. Salty snacks and fruit flavored drinks make up another 5%. The types of foods have vitamin and minerals and are considered not to be of any nutritional value.

The human craving for fats and sweets will never go away and it's getting easier to satisfy those cravings. There are over 170,000 fast food restaurants and 3 million vending machines spread across the country. In 1978, the average teenage boy drank about 7 ounces and so a day. Today he drinks about three times that much and this equates to 9% this daily calories from soda.

Today the standard American diet is actually pretty extreme. It usually consists of a myriad of processed carbohydrates such as cereal, bread, pasta, cookies, cakes, etc., plus processed meat products and a few fruits and vegetables. It is full of hydrogenated oil, high fructose corn syrup, Phytic acid, Acrylamide, sodium nitrate, and Monosodium glutamate. Unfortunately it is lacking in basic essentials such as vitamins and minerals.

Sep 4, 2010